Territory completes capstone exercise but senators press on shelter staffing, generators and fuel reserves

The Committee on Disaster Recovery, Infrastructure, and Planning spent the afternoon reviewing the territory’s hurricane readiness posture and after‑action findings from a June 1–5 capstone exercise that simulated a Category‑3 impact on St. John.

VITEMA Director Daryl D. Josh described the exercise as demonstrating “meaningful progress” in joint incident action planning and federal partner integration, but he also acknowledged recurring problems flagged in the draft after‑action report: shelter staffing shortfalls, communication gaps (particularly in St. John), points‑of‑distribution and supply chain issues, and software under‑utilization for coordination. Josh said several findings mirror past reports and stressed the need for continuous‑improvement working‑group follow‑up.

Shelters and staffing: Department of Human Services assistant commissioner Carla Benjamin briefed senators on shelter capacity across the three districts and explained the “72‑hour food matrix” that relies on pre‑staged FEMA shelf‑stable meals and American Red Cross feeding for the first 72 hours; the territory then transitions to Department of Education kitchens. DHS provided territorywide pre‑landfall and post‑landfall capacities (pre‑landfall 2,290; post‑landfall 1,136) and noted expanded co‑located pet sheltering on some sites. Several senators pressed for nurse availability; Department of Health officials said the territory has limited public‑health nurse staffing (the commissioner later confirmed 23 public‑health nurses systemwide and offered to provide district breakdowns), and that prescripted federal staffing requests and mutual‑aid would be used if pre‑storm staffing cannot be secured.

Generators, power, and fuel: WAPA’s interim incident commander Don Gregoire said the utility has made resilience investments (composite poles, undergrounding projects, vegetation crews) but flagged a constrained cash position that limits emergency inventory and fuel reserves. WAPA gave island‑level figures during Q&A that translate to only several days’ fuel for certain burn‑configurations; senators asked for more detail and a plan to increase reserves. Several shelter sites were reported to lack permanent generators or battery backups; officials said mobile generators can be prepositioned but some battery and transfer equipment remain to be verified and tested.

Communications and logistics: The exercise surfaced communications vulnerabilities on St. John and under‑used coordination software. Agencies said Starlink and satellite links are being adopted for EOC redundancy but recommended careful security checks before linking critical systems. The National Guard described pre‑positioning and force packages (immediate response task forces) and noted the territory’s need for up to 989 Guard personnel in a worst‑case scenario, with associated activation costs and logistical arrangements.

Workforce and local capacity: Senators praised a local workforce event organized by Indutech VI (Kamani Rogers Henry) that drew more than 1,000 applicants and produced hundreds of interviews; lawmakers urged formal workforce development partnerships to meet recovery labor needs.

What’s next: Officials committed to closing AAR corrective actions through the continuous improvement working group and to reporting back with concrete timelines: final Phase‑1 submittal for Herman Hill, generator and battery testing records at designated shelters, district fuel reserve tallies, and an updated mutual‑aid inventory. The committee asked agencies to provide the chair with mutual‑aid contracts and a district breakdown of Department of Health nurses to help determine how many shelters the territory can safely staff.

Ending: Senators emphasized individual preparedness (water, food for several days), noted that federal assistance requires assessments and a declaration, and asked agencies to return to the committee with the requested documents and verified readiness checklists.